The Quebec connection

DENVER The Predators have one of the more bizarre connections to the Colorado Avalanche. Two people within the organization were the final first-round draft picks of the Quebec franchise before it moved here prior to the 1995-96 season.

Former forward and current radio analyst Wade Belak was drafted 12th overall by the Nordiques in the 1994 draft. Ten picks later, Quebec took Jeff Kealty, who is now chief amateur scout for the Predators.

“To be part of the last Quebec Nordiques first-round picks with me and Jeff Kealty being with the Predators organization, is kind of a special feat I guess,” Belak said.

Belak wasn’t expecting to be picked by the Nordiques at all: “It was completely off the radar, I met with them once and then to get picked by them, it was a shock.”

In order to go to his first professional training camp, Belak said he took out a loan because he said he didn’t have sufficient funds to fly to Quebec City.

“For me (the move to Denver) was great because Quebec was an expensive place to live, so coming here was great,” Belak said. “The only thing that was terrible was the altitude — to try to get used to that was brutal, to try to get acclimated to that.”